CH 217

【203rd day】

The lock-down of the dungeon was gradually being lifted, and the city seemed to have returned to normal.

However, the 45th floor was still strictly off-limits.

No action at all had been taken against the crucial issue of the spiders.

The situation was critical and every minute mattered. And yet, at this moment, time was being wasted in a fruitless meeting.

「I was told that it was all used up in the previous battle. I heard that it's made from a rare flower. It's impossible to make or procure any more right now」

「If only we could create the fog that inhibits them, then we wouldn't need to use it……」

「The descendant of Heures may have held off the spiders, but the elves of the Forest are making a lot of noise about us owing them」

「The elf who used the art has been disowned by the Forest. This should have nothing to do with them」

「That may be so, but we're talking about those pig-headed elves here, you know?」

「Good grief, what a nuisance they are」

「Can that fog magic not be used by others?」

「I'd say that's impossible. The elves would never divulge their secrets」

「Then let's have the user use it once more」

Do these guys have trouble remembering things or something?

「My wife is in a coma right now because her magic power ran out. Even if she wakes up, I won't let her use magic that puts such a huge burden on her ever again. Moreover, we still don't have the most important thing, the means to defeat the spiders」

『………………』

The masked people all fell silent as one.

The coma that a severe shortage of magic power brings on is known as the "sleep of death”. As its name implies, there are cases where the person doesn't wake up and just dies. It's a very dangerous condition.

Rana, you knew I would have stopped you, so you kept quiet about the risks involved. When you wake up, a punishment is in order.

「―――――No」

「But still―――――」

We were in the loft of the bar run by the country, which was reserved exclusively for advanced adventurers.

Present were the king of the country, his cousin and highly-skilled former adventurer, the barkeeper, and several individuals who “appeared to be” advanced adventurers.

A dozen people had been gathered here hurriedly, and we had spent the past six hours talking in circles like idiots.

I was getting fed up.

「With their numbers, I doubt it's possible」

「Didn't Solcia burn a whole bunch of them to ashes? Didn't that have any effect?」

「What he had achieved was little more than burning off the tip of their pinky finger. That was all, yet Solcia fell into a coma. It's more than possible that there are more spiders in that horde than there are people in this country」

「Does anyone know their exact numbers?」

「According to the report, every one of the lights on that floor was a spider」

「You've got to be joking. That must be a mistake」

「They're ultimately just bugs. We should be able to use their behavioral patterns to lead them into―――――」

「Wait, wait, wait. There's no need for such a tedious approach. If we get all the flame magicians and engulf the entire floor with flames―――――」

「Think about the size of that floor. It's impossible, absolutely impossible. Short of the great flame magician Rob successfully creating the true flame or something, completely engulfing that floor with flames is definitely impossible~~」

「What if we send out all of the adventurers……」

「Are you stupid? Just how many adventurers do you think there are who can hold their own on the 45th floor?」

「Doesn't any one of us here have a secret technique or art that could wipe out the spiders?!」

「Even if any of us did, no one would reveal it」

「No idea」

「I don’t know~」

「Doesn't anyone have any idea?」

「Oh, come on, you guys, it's simple. It must be because a descendant of Heures entered that floor――――――」

I heard bullshit that I couldn't overlook.

Placing my hand on the scabbard of my katana, I released killing intent.

Six of them jolted in their chairs, causing a clatter.

Six of them brushed it off in an aloof manner.

It was interesting to see how cleanly split their reactions were. Due to that, I was momentarily distracted.

「Souya, stop that. And this is not the place to be insulting people. Next time that happens, I'll shut the offender up myself」

In kingly fashion, the king reined them in, and then……

We're back to square one.

This is a complete waste of time. It doesn't matter if it's the alternate world or a monarchical regime, nothing changes the fact that meetings are a waste of time.

「This is ridiculous」

Unable to bear it any longer, I got up from my seat.

「Souya, sit down. We don't have much time left」

「All the more we shouldn't be wasting it like this」

I retorted the king who had stopped me.

You're right about there not being much time left. Because it's an emergency, I won't hold back.

「Listen, Souya, it’ll be fine, so sit back down」

The barkeeper tried to placate me, but I couldn't care less.

What pissed me off the most were the advanced adventurers who still held on to their secretive ways and refused to cooperate even in this situation.

「Tomorrow! The fog my wife put up will lift! I don't have time to sit here and have a stupid discussion with a bunch of masked people!」

「In that case, you'll do something about it?」

Riled up by the masked adventurer's reply, I……

「If you guys are all so useless, then I have no choice but to do something about it myself, isn't it?!」

……answered like that without thinking.

Oh crap.

I thought, but it was already too late.

With a triumphant look on his face, the king clapped his hands and spoke.

「As expected of the man who became an advanced adventurer in record time. In this moment of crisis, why not us old adventurers just sit back and leave the future of our country to the young ones?」

「Mmm, I second that!」

The barkeeper nodded vigorously.

「Good luck~」

「I expect great things from you」

「I'll pick up the pieces for you if you fail」

Following that, three masked adventurers expressed their approval.

The rest remained silent and merely turned to look at me. Their gazes were laced with a mixture of envy, pity, and curiosity.

The king stood up and called the meeting to a close.

「That concludes this round of the Adventurer Crisis Meetings. The next one will be………let's see……………… We'll hold the next one after Souya fails. Well then, dismissed」

The adventurers scattered like spiderlings.

However, the king, the barkeeper, and I stayed behind.

「King Lemuria, what's the meaning of this?」

Why did you set me up?

「You’re going to be busy for some time now, Souya. As such, I doubt you'll have time to spend with my daughter, Lanseal. What do you say? How about breaking it off right now? The sooner you break up with someone, the fewer regrets you'll have, you know?」

「Is that what's important to you right now?」

We're facing a national crisis, you realize?!

「I was joking, you fool」

Ohhh, it's not the least bit funny though.

「King Lemuria, that's not very nice of you. Perhaps you should hand that thing over quickly」

「………Hmpt, what does Lanseal see in this guy, good grief」

Urged on by the barkeeper, the baldy grumbled as he pulled out a scroll.

「Use it, it's a【decree to issue a royal order on behalf of the king】」

「Come again?」

I took it for the time being.

The high-quality scroll was sealed using a piece of wax with Lemuria's coat of arms stamped on it.

「What's this for?」

「You can issue a royal order on my behalf. You can even use it to force another party to follow your orders. For someone with not much connections with your peers, this will likely prove useful. However, you can only use it on one party」

「………………Eh, that's all?」

「What are you complaining about? Isn't that enough?」

You must be joking.

「Advanced adventurers who have reached the 45th level are all so secretive that I don't even know their faces」

「That's true, but what about it?」

The king muttered as if it were a matter of course.

「You're telling me to investigate and find out their true identities, make sure they have the strength and the will to fight the spiders, put them into my party, and then coordinate and fight together with them on the fly? Until that horde of spiders is exterminated?」

「Depending on the situation, that's right, but is that not possible?」

「Of course, it's impossible!」

There's no time for that at all.

As I said earlier, Rana's fog is going to lift tomorrow. We only have one day left, or maybe half a day since it's already past noon.

Finding a trustworthy person in such a short time and asking them to go into a potential deathtrap is absolutely impossible.

「Well, listen, Souya」

As I got more and more heated, the baldy cautioned me in a king-like manner.

It's really quite rare to see him act kingly. It's a bit late for that though.

「I used to do reckless things back in the day as well. Every day, I fought battles I didn't think I had a chance of winning. But humans are creatures that progress, you know? I won't let you say that the adventurers of today are in any way worse than the adventurers of old. After all, it's only natural for the young to surpass the old」

In other words, you're giving me the "young people these days……" speech, huh?

That doesn't help me in any way.

Thank you very much.

「Souya, aren't you forgetting something? I'm pretty sure Solcia has told you already」

「Eh? The Guild President?」

At the barkeeper's words, I tried to recollect my conversations with the Guild President, but………………

I'm the type of person who quickly blots out the memories of people I don't like.

I can't recall anything specific.

「It can't be helped, I'll give you a hint. The large spider that Lola resurrected was defeated by Heures. "Resurrected" being the key word. That means that there was someone who had defeated it before that」

「………………」

Someone defeated the large spider?

Who?

Hmm? Hmm? Somehow, I feel like I've heard something like that before.

「You'll probably recall it in half a day………………over a meal at my business rival's store, that is!」

For some reason, the barkeeper stormed out angrily.

「I'm expecting great things from you. If you fail, break up with Lanseal」

「………………」

The baldy also left.

I was left alone in the loft, and as I mulled things over, I received a communication on my glasses.

「What’s the matter?」

The communication was from Makina.

I can't even have a moment to catch my breath.

『Souya-san, um, Makina is terribly sorry. There's a bit of a problem』

「Now what?!」

It seems that when the problems get too much, people can get high on the despair of it all.

『We thought Yukikaze's mini-pod had malfunctioned, remember? But it's actually a very elaborate fake. The material the fake is made of closely resembles insect chitin. In all likelihood, it was switched in the dungeon』

「What?!」

You're saying that Yukikaze is a fake?

Wh, when did that happen? No, thinking back, there were plenty of opportunities for her to be switched out.

The first contact with the spider-person, when she was exploring on her own, or even while I was preparing food, there were plenty of times when the switch could have been made under the darkness of that floor.

「Oh shit………」

Her being in a situation where she can't make backups is a huge problem.

This is the worst.

『And, umm……』

「There's more, isn't there?」

That made me more excited than anything else.

『The fake pod, it's equipped with a communication function………………and umm, there's a message』

「Who is it from?」

Well, there's only one possibility though.

『They referred to themselves as "the entity you all call spiders"』

「You’re kidding me」

So they're intelligent beings? What's more, it appears that they're capable of dialogue.

『Makina thinks it's definitely a trap, so Makina didn't really want to pass the message on, but Souya-san, you would have pried it out of Makina anyway, right? That's the kind of person you are after all……』

「Yes, that's right」

That's the kind of person I am.

『They're requesting that Souya-san and Gunmerry-san go see them on the 45th floor. "Just the two of you," they said』

「It's a trap, isn't it?」

It absolutely is. Also, I remember now.

Before Lola had resurrected it, the large spider was defeated by the Gunmerrys. I have a vague recollection of hearing such a legend.

『Naturally, you're going, right?』

「Yeah. Of course I'm going. That's obvious」

『Makina knew it. That's the kind of person you are, isn't it, Souya-san?』

Like I said, that's the kind of person I am.

Well, well, well, after that side-story that had left us with so many questions about Gunmerry, is it finally time we learned more about that mysterious bunch? After all, the Gunmerrys we’ve seen so far are nothing like the Gunmerry in that side-story……

I kept the original “scattered like spiderlings” because it was thematic, but the actual English equivalent is “scattered like roaches”.

Things are getting exciting, yes? Souya is going to start a dialogue with those “things”…you’re beginning to see where the title is from now, I hope? Well, stay tuned!